Kenneth Branagh Books

The book is wonderful. It is full of life and vigor. Can't wait to read the rest of the books.

This book seems to have been written to give the classic " The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" from the '40's a history, but later? C.S. Lewis continued to write about this alternate fantasy reality with the Christian overtones for seven books. I don't rate this as one of the better ones,
but they are all interesting mixes of magic, alternate worlds and
Christian divine right of kings mythology. We have ordinary boys and girls on their summer/ vacation "adventures" become princes
and princesses in Narnia where the horse and other animals talk.
This story starts the sequence as the boy and the Lion Aslan create a new young world where Narnia is a kingdom. Time and space and laws on nature are different in these parallel worlds: Charn from where the witch comes is very old, Earth is between in age and Narnia's world is new.
I have to say that even the worst of these books is very well written and thought out by a master story teller.

C. S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew (Harper Collins, 1955)

Back when I was a kid, I read what were then considered the first two and a half books of the Chronicles of Narnia; I never did make it through The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Now, with the travesty that was the movie version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe hanging in my memory, I felt the need to go back and revisit these, first to see if I could finally finish Dawn Treader, and second to see if the books were as good as I remembered. Now I find they've also altered the order of them, for chronological order of the story rather than the release dates. And thus I started with The Magician's Nephew, which back in the day was the fifth book in the series.

This one tells the story of the creation of Narnia. There's an adventure bit thrown in for good measure, but it's really a creation myth. And I have to say I wasn't terribly fond of it, and I can't imagine I'd have liked it at all if it had been presented to me as the beginning of the series when I was growing up. There's just so much more going on in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (as I recall it, anyway). Still, it's a quick read, if one where Lewis was obviously writing to message rather than simply telling a story. But I certainly wouldn't recommend reading them in the "present" order; go back to the original, so you can be enchanted by the first books before getting to this. ***

It has been a long while since I read the Magician's Nephew for the first time. Nonetheless it came back to me to make the second time a even better experience. It is very well written and we enjoyed the creation of a new world and a beautiful world it was. This is a great book for all ages especially for those who enjoy magic.
Anna del C.
Author of "The Elf and the Princess"
The Elf and The Princess: The Silent Warrior Trilogy - Book One (The Silent Warrior Trilogy)

As a child, I was enchanted by the worlds in The Magician's Nephew - the descriptions of Charn, the creation of Narnia, and the Woods Between the Worlds - but I found myself cringing at the decidedly unsubtle allegory when I reread the book recently.

There is no avoiding the fact that this book is about Good versus Evil, nor that it is attempting to retell one of the creation stories from Genesis with the creation of Narnia. Everyone seems rather wooden and pushed into the rolls Lewis wants them to take and there is no real suspense or wonder. The good end happily and the bad do not, except for Jadis who must play the roll of Eden's serpent.

Furthermore, I was rather appalled at the treatment of Polly, the female Ketterleys, and Nellie/Queen Helen. I wish that I could better explain what I find so unsettling about them, but I can only point vaguely at their uselessness. I really didn't get a positive, empathetic feeling towards any of the women in the story, except for Mrs Kirke - and I suspect she only slides by because she's Digory's mother and she's ill.


So, that's that. It's an interesting little book, but steeped in 1950s children's book conventions, and it could use a good deal of updating to match it with modern sensibilities and a more dynamic writer.

Oh, and: I'm told in the opening pages that Lewis intended it to be read first among the Chronicles of Narnia, but I must disagree with this. To have such a blatantly allegorical story first in the set is to lose much of the wonder of discovering Narnia through the wardrobe with the Pevensie children. Besides which, much of the suspense and wonder in the second book are dashed away with all the background information that The Magician's Nephew provides.

I used to watch "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" cartoon constantly when I was a little kid. Strangely enough, despite the fact that I was an avid reader as a child, as I still am today, I never read these books. I did enjoy other fantasy novels as a kid, but for some reason these never came my way, nor did I ever really ask for them. So since the movies are now being made I decided that I would pick up the books and see if I could delve even deeper into the tale of Narnia, since it appears this one may not be made into film. It might, you never know.

Even though this is a children's book it draws a lot of influence from the Bible, in fact many of the situations in this book parallel that text greatly. It may not be obvious to young children, but for those that are well read in a great many texts, it will be blatantly obvious. I am quite irreligious, but I have still read the Bible as well as a great many books and I am certainly not such a prude in my beliefs to deny how influential the Bible has been in literature. I will discuss the parallels later, for now I will go over the tale and what I thought of it.

Even though this book was written after "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", "The Magician's Nephew" is actually the prequel to the whole saga! The story centers around two children, Digory and Polly, and how they got brought into an adventure that would be the starting point for so many others. Digory is living with his Uncle Andrew, who spends a good deal of time trying to find out the secrets of magical workings in our world. He stumbles upon success in the form of rings that transport the wearer into another dimension essentially. However, Andrew is a coward and he refuses to find out where they could transport him on his own, thus he enlists Digory to go for him, and unfortunately Polly gets sucked into the whole mess. Needless to say inter-dimensional travel doesn't ever seem to go very smoothly (whether I'm reading sci-fi or fantasy) and the two children are brought into both terrifying situations and mystifying worlds. Here we see the recounting of Narnia's creation, the first meeting with Aslan, and how Digory (the future professor) came into the possession of the now infamous wardrobe. The book is also filled with talking animals and very humorous situations as a result, something most any child should enjoy.

For a children's book I thought this was a really fascinating adventure. I thought the proposition that there's a lion, somewhere in some alternate reality, running around making all kinds worlds all strung together by a gateway nexus called "The Wood Between the Worlds" was simply a great premise. It certainly doesn't take very long to read and, as an adult, the language use is very simple, naturally the target audience is for the young. However, the tale and writing transcend it's youthful audience by having parallel's and influences from a very adult world, thus I think adult's can appreciate this book series quite a bit. It's no secret that C.S. Lewis was a devout Christian. Aslan, the lion, is obviously represented as Christ, Jadis (the Ice Queen) is the serpent/Satan as parallel's the biblical tales. There is even the temptation at the forbidden tree, but instead of an unnamed fruit we see the Christian mythology play into the book and it is specifically named an apple. I found myself wondering if C.S. Lewis did this intentionally or if he knew that the Bible never explicitly states Eve ate an apple, rather she just ate "fruit" from a tree. Also the recounting of Aslan's creation of Narnia parallel's that of the Genesis tale. The use of song is an interesting concept. It is well known in the Bible that God likes his praise to be sung, but using that as the specific coder of creation was an interesting take on it. The other part that greatly interested me was the treatment of evil. Like the Bible, Aslan is aware that a great evil is in his new world, yet he does nothing about this. He never states why he can't do anything, or why he won't, simply that calamity will strike Narnia in the future, but that he will take the brunt force of this pain (paralleling the crucifixion of Christ and using prophecy). It's a curious move not to explain anything, and maybe this is my philosophical mind over thinking something that isn't there, I don't know.

As you can see Biblical parallels are rife throughout this book, but it is in no way preachy to the readers and even those like myself who harbor anti-religious tendencies, you can still enjoy the fantasy world as it is. After all, in my opinion, it makes a much better fantasy story than truth. If you've seen the newer edition of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" I would highly recommend you read "The Magician's Nephew" because it gives you some excellent background on where that world came from and how our worlds can link together.

I bought two sets. Sent one to my 29 year old daughter in New Mexico and one home to my 24 year old son. They both have enjoyed listening to the set. Well worth the money that I paid for it.

Last summer we listened to this series in the car, by borrowing them one by one from the libary. Come Christmas time we decided to buy the set. Both the adults and kids (ages 5&7) enjoyed listening. The readers do a great job, giving differant voices to the characters. We did borrow one book in the "radio style" format. We found the radio style confusing and not as pleasent to listen to.

I ordered this for my middle schooler who has a Learning Disability that prevents her from reading quickly and she has to read and test on many books a quarter to keep her grades up. The teacher said that I could suppliment with books on tape/cd. I love the Chronicles of Narnia myself and thought that she might like them too. She loves them. She would have never been able to get through one of the books by herself but she listens to them without my prompting. That is great.
One thing about this purchase was that in the picture it looked to me like it came with a set of books but it does not. I am not saying that the product was misrepresented I just didn't pay close enough attention. I had a set of books at home anyway so it was no problem.

I didn't expect to like these books; I don't care for fantasy. But these were more than that. I read them to my children years ago, and by the third book, I was hooked, too. We each have different favorites in the series.

C.S. Lewis does an excellent job in turning Biblical truths into epic, mythical stories. A danger of these books is that the stories are so engaging, you might read them instead of the Bible. I'm sure that wasn't Lewis' intention; rather it was to turn children onto Christianity with his understanding of it.

I would definitely recommend this collection for families. The collection is one of my 10 favorite children's books of all time.

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

I've wanted to reread the entire Chronicles of Narnia series, back to back, for a long time and just never got around to it. When I found it in audio as a boxed set, I had to have it and it gave me the excuse I needed to revisit my childhood for a little while.

In The Magician's Nephew, we discover the origins of the wonderful land of Narnia and how Aslan the Lion brought it into being. Digory is a young boy tricked by his magician uncle into travelling to another world, where he must rescue his friend Polly who Uncle Andrew trapped there. Thus begins a grand new adventure for Polly and Digory, not all of which is enjoyable, as they jump through various worlds and see the birth of Narnia. Digory knows he caused most of the problems and will not quit until he fixes his mistakes.

It's been so many years since I read any of this series, I can't remember if I read The Magician's Nephew before or not. What a delightful story! Here we have the prequel to one of the most beloved children's books of all time. I enjoyed my foray through worlds with Digory and Polly and especially enjoyed being there when Aslan creates Narnia. I also liked getting to see the origin of the witch and how the division of good and evil in Narnia began.

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevency are sent to live with a reclusive professor to protect them during the war. A game of hide and seek leads to a whole new world when the children discover a wooden wardrobe that is a door to Narnia. The game grows serious when they learn they are the answer to a prophecy about two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve bringing peace to the land.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is definitely the most popular book in the series and probably every single person of the past few generations has at least heard the name. This is the story that drew me into the world of Narnia and as such, it will always hold a little corner of my heart with the memories of meeting Aslan, the centaurs, the fauns, all the talking animals, and of course the infamous Pevency children.

In The Horse and His Boy, Shasta is a young orphan taken in as a baby by a fisherman and raised to work the fishing boat. When Shasta finds out his master is going to sell him to someone new, he decides to escape. While trying to figure out what to do, he discovers the horse belonging to the man wanting to buy Shasta is a talking horse from Narnia who also wants to be free. So they run away and early in their journey bump into a young girl Aravis who is also running away with Winn, her own talking horse from Narnia. Aravis and Shasta decide to journey together and find themselves in a whole mess of adventures that lead them to bump into King Edmund, Queen Susan and Queen Lucy and even the great Aslan himself.

The Horse and His Boy is first and foremost a quest novel, at least in my opinion. Here we have young Shasta who escapes his dreary life to go on the adventure of a lifetime, where he finds out there is such more to him than he ever realized. Aravis too, is trying to get away from her fears and she finds the strength to do so with Shasta at her side. She also has a tendency to speak her mind with n fear of consequences, which gets her into trouble on more than one occasion. I loved the horses, who added so much personality to the story, and experience some adventures of their own.

Centuries after Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy left Narnia they are unexpectedly called back from their world. There is a usurper ruling in Narnia and the true king, Prince Caspian calls for aid in defeating his uncle the phony king, so he can take his rightful place on the throne.

Much has changed in Narnia since the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve disappeared. Centuries have passed in Narnia though only a little more than a year in Earth time is gone, and Prince Caspian needs their help to bring Narnia back to the way it is meant to be. I especially liked meeting one of my favorite characters, Reepecheep, in this installment of the saga. Anotehr part of this story I loved was seeing the reactions of High King Peter and his family when they realize Narnia is nothing like they remember it. Their friends are gone and their castles in ruins, but we also get to see them overcome their shock to once more step into the roles prophesized to belong to them. They've all grown up a bit and this has quite an impact on their reactions to their beloved Narnia.

Lucy and Edmund are sucked into a painting, with their cousin Eustace in tow, while visiting Eustace's family. They end up in Narnia on The Voyage of Dawn Treader, King Caspian's ship. Caspian is on a journey to the east and The End of the World in the hopes of finding several knights sent out seven years ago by Caspian's uncle, and they hope to finally reach Aslan's country.

The Voyage of Dawn Treader is actually much slower paced then the majority of the books in this series and as a result seems to take an awfully long time for the adventures to begin. Eustace is a spoiled little rich boy who finds everything he believes challenged on this sea voyage. He has to rise above his faults to become the boy he is meant to be. Anotehr nice touch is we see how much Caspian has grown up since he won the throne of Narnia from his uncle. He is destined to be a great king and here we really see this side of his personality.

Eustace Scrubbs (cousin to the Pevency children) has had a complete personality change after his first experience in Narnia. While trying to help a young girl, Jill, being bullied, they run off through a door in the stone wall and end up in the far east of the world, Aslan's country in Narnia. They have been summoned by Aslan to assist King Caspian in finding his long lost son, missing for 10 years. While on their journey they have four signs to follow that Aslan gave them and manage to mess up three of them. They get into scrape after scrape as they search for Prince Rillian and discover The Silver Chair.

Eustace is back in Narnia, quite by accident, and he has changed so much since his last experience. But then, who wouldn't be changed after what he had to go through in the previous story? We also get to visit with Caspian one last time, in the twilight of his life as king. I have loved Caspian since we met him in his first story so while I was pleased to see he had such a wonderfully blessed life, I was a little heartbroken to see him so close to the end, in agony over the disappearance of his son. I had a hard time deciding what I thought of Rillian initially, but he grew on my after a while, especially once I understood the curse he suffered.

When Shift the ape and Puzzle his donkey friend find a lion skin in the water, the ape decides it would be a great idea to dress Puzzle up in the lion skin and tell everyone Aslan has returned. When Shift gets greedy and makes a deal with the Callormens to sell the talking animals into slavery and cut down all of the dryad's trees, the real Aslan sends Eustace and Jill back to Narnia to help the king put an end to Shift's schemes with The Last Battle.

Patrick Stewart narrates this one and he does a fantastic job. He had me cracking up as he brayed like a donkey and barked like a dog, among other little bits he had to perform. The Last Battle starts a little slowly, as Shift and Puzzle put their plan into motion. But once the scheme starts to work, the pace picks up as we fly down the road into battle preparations and the final war.

For years I've heard about The Chronicles of Narnia as being a Christian allegory and the many references to similarities between Narnia beliefs and Christian beliefs. I also know there are many people who spend significant amounts of time studying the books for these Christian references. When I was little, all those hidden meanings were way over my head and the books were just adventure stories. Now that I'm older and wiser (or like to think I am anyhow), I can view the series with new eyes and pick up on many of the references. The allegorical nature of the series is most evident in The Magician's Nephew (the creation story) and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (the rising, crucifixion, and rising again of Jesus Christ) and The Last Battle (the Second Coming of Christ). The Voyage of Dawn Treader also struck me after I looked back on it, as reminding me of Noah and the Ark in some ways.

I loved the opportunity to read Chronicles of Narnia once more and enjoyed the fact that it is now so much more to me than just a fantasy saga.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, January 2008. All rights reserved.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

This Kindle edition of "Hamlet" is great fun to read. The ebook is useful to anyone interested in Shakespeare, or theatre in general.

This is a great supplment to go with the best and most complet hamlet ever made. Video is excellent

I got a used copy off Amazon. It's great to have, and is very nice...but I keep reading about breathtaking pictures. Where? I think they were ripped out of my copy. At the very back there is evidence of at least one color page being ripped out...I don't know. But it is a wonderful film, play, and now a wonderful book to have. The film diary is very interesting.

This screen play, introduction and film diary of Hamlet, Kenneth Branagh is like having several books in one. The screen play its self is based on the text of `Hamlet' as it appears in the `First Folio'.

You probably have several copies of Hamlet and maybe a few film versions. The advantage in this book is that it tells you what you are looking at. It goes beyond the inferences of Shakespeare's words and explains what they were trying to portray in the movie.

The introduction, only a few pages long is packed with information on how the movie came about.

The Film Diary (Rehearsal to Wrap) is written by Russell Jackson. This section also contains monochrome pictures of the film being made.

The section designated as "The Film" has several breath taking pictures that you probably did not notice while watching the film. It starts with The Ghost and ends with Fortinbras.

This book is useful to anyone interested in the film or theatre work of Kenneth Branagh, in Shakespeare on Screen, or film and theatre in general. As previous reviewers have mentioned, it comprises an introduction to the film/play by Kenneth Branagh, the full text of 'Hamlet' used during filming, production photographs and a 'film diary'.

The main purpose of my review is to correct the misapprehension of one previous reviewer about the writer of the 'film diary', in order to encourage interest in the film diary section of the book. A previous reviewer suggested that 'Russell Jackson' might be a filmographer. In fact, Russell Jackson is a Professor specialising in Shakespeare Studies and is the Director of The Shakespeare Institute, a prestigious school for Shakespeare studies in Stratford-upon-Avon, UK. This school has strong ties with the nearby Royal Shakespeare Company, and Professor Jackson himself is one of the leading scholars in the field of criticism of Shakespeare in Performance. He has published many articles in scholarly journals, and is the editor or co-editor of major books about Shakespeare in Performance such as 'The Oxford Illustrated History of Shakespeare on Stage'.

Most importantly, Prof. Jackson has acted as 'textual advisor' to Kenneth Branagh on the sets of many (if not all) of his Shakespearean films; this means he was often responsible for advising Branagh how to interpret a particular line or scene. No one is more well-qualified to write the film diary.

Prof. Jackson's film diary is not only anecdotal; it also describes many of the discussions actors had about how to play certain scenes and characters, and sometimes compares them to approaches that were made in other productions of 'Hamlet': it does become analytical at times. One cannot complain about the funny anecdotes Prof. Jackson relates about making this film, anyway. Amongst other things, he discusses the different viewpoints and acting styles brought to the film by the actors from varying countries, he discusses the difficulty of filming swordfights and snowstorms, and embellishing Blenheim Palace to make it look more fortress-like. Prof. Jackson also makes it clear that many of the people working on the film had been working with Branagh for years, and he captures a sense of this camaraderie.

Branagh's own introduction to the book could perhaps have been longer, but is of value, letting readers know how he first became interested in acting, who his earliest acting idols were, and why he finds 'Hamlet' particularly interesting to act.

I'm not sure why one previous reviewer expected the book text of the film's dialogue to be different from the film; the intention of the film was to make a filmed version using the 'full' (longest available, conflated) text of the play. The film uses every word from texts of 'Hamlet' that are seen as legitimate, and the text in the book transcribes exactly what is said in the film.

There are however some comments interposed within the text spoken in the film - I guess comments by Branagh. These could be a little disconcerting as they break up the text, but one can easily jump over them if necessary. They would probably be very useful to a high school student studying the play who does not understand the play's language; they will also interest anyone wondering about Branagh's motivation behind particular readings of lines or portrayals of scenes.

Lastly the photographs are great, and not really small - the book is somewhat larger than many hardback/softcover books.

I recommend this book. For anyone interested in Shakespeare on Screen, I also recommend the book relating to Richard Loncraine's film of 'Richard III', which has an interesting introduction by Ian McKellen. Those who like Branagh's 'Hamlet' film might wish to also watch Zefferelli's film version of 'Hamlet' to compare two recent and very different approaches to filming the play.

A young writer takes on the job of ghost writing the autobiography of a racehorse trainer.
He finds himself embroiled in the life of the stable and the deaths of 2 young women associated with it.
His usual good writing and vivid characters.

All of Dick Francis' books are excellent; this should be just as good as any of his books.

"Longshot" centres on events in an old racing family, observed through the eyes of a writer of survival handbooks who has been invited to work on the biography of the patriarch, a successful trainer of racing horses. For the first time in a a few of its ilk, this novel left me wanting to hear more about how the characters went on to live their lives, partly because the resolution left some interesting tensions to work with. Due to the nature of the plot, Francis's characterisations go into more depth than he normally offers, and I wish he'd added another volume.

Longshot features travel writer turned novelist John Kendall who, to make ends meet, accepts a commission to produce the biography of a race horse trainer. Kendall soon discovers, however, that a recent murder at the trainer's home is far from resolved, and unwittingly becomes ensnared in a web of deceit and danger. Kendall is forced to draw on survival skills honed in exotic locations in order to navigate these home-grown perils.

The book's strength, like most Dick Francis mysteries, lies in solid pacing and engaging characters. Francis juggles well a fairly large cast, all with realistic motivations and personal quirks; the only person who does not ring true, perhaps, is the police inspector who obligingly spills facts to Kendall as needed. Kendall himself is another well-crafted Francis everyman, at loose ends emotionally and personally while he tries to pursue a new professional calling. He stands out from other Francis heroes with his specialized knowledge of living off the land, rather hazardous traps, and survival against the elements. And who as a child didn't dream once or twice of surviving in the wild in such a manner? Francis offers, once again, a chance to experience someone else's livelihood and to puzzle together a mystery along the way.

This 1990 novel by former jockey Dick Francis features John Kendall, a young man who has written a novel while working as an adventure guide writer. When his novel was accepted by a publisher Kendall took his advance, quit his job and began his second novel. As the story opens he has discovered two things, the first is that writing full time was not as easy as he had thought, and secondly that his advance was not lasting nearly as long as he had hoped. An opportunity to ghost write a horse trainer's memoirs came up, complete with room and board just as Kendall found himself homeless.

While living in the trainer's home Kendall is introduced to the world of racing and some of its intrigues and scandals. As always in a Francis' novel, the hero is stoic and persisent, the family is dysfunctional, the first crime leads to a second, and in the end it is the villian's lack of character that caused all the misfortune.

Francis' work has been criticized as being formulistic, that any one is very like any other. This is true but since they are well written, the characters are interesting, the plots are clever, and the action exciting this means only that the reader is guaranteed an enjoyable read with each new one.

Very entertaining and enlightening. Pepys gives us a glimpse of what life was like in that period before the "Glorious Revolution" in England which was so important in the developement of democracy in England and the United States. Pepys was on the wrong side of that revolution - a loyalist to King Charles II, although he was never convicted of treason. Good thing, since there seemed to be a lot of beheadings, etc. in that era. Occasionally, it is not absolutely clear what Pepys is talking about, and sometimes the vocabulary is not easily understood,as language and customs have changed, but that is to be expected.

I've long been a student and a collector of information on the personalities of Restoration England, growing out of a desire to know more about the background in literature classes. The Restoration crowd loved life, and in this volume (and presumably the next) you see how tenuous their lives were -- 5000 a week in the City of London dying of plague, two fleets of 100 ships each at war in a narrow sea, everyone so intent on feathering their nest and getting their next place, and an honest man rarest commodity of all. I love all these diaries. I've learned to ignore a lot of the textural (not text) notes that tell you if there was a blot on the page, or the symbol was not quite clear, but the footnotes are amazing and so is the information. Love Sam; he could have done pretty much as he pleased with me, I fear. But in his daily strolls of 5 miles and more I fear I could never have kept up as he went up and down the town, up and down the river. I've been to London and took the boat tour on the Thames from the houses of Parliament down to Greenwich to see the naval museum and Queen's house -- and he would walk, day or night, from London to Depworth, to Woolwich, to Greenwich (though he'd borrow the boat if he could) and pay attention to all he passed. What a companion!

Unfortunately for my budget's sake I started buying these in 3s and am now having trouble filling up 1666-1669. I will persevere, though, and anticipate a re-read of all or part probably every summer (while TV takes a dive and there's good light to read by until long into the evening). The only thing I have wished for is more portraits of the people he is speaking of--and the portraits by Huysmans and Lely that he reports having seen fresh painted. However, financially that may not have been doable. Will have to keep searching for a companion Restoration Portraits volume to keep me happy.

Great reading - do start from the beginning to get into the swing of things. A random paragraph doesn't put you "in the life" like the unrolling panorama does. A better map of London at your elbow (though there is one in the back of each volume) will also increase your pleasure.

It is kind of hard to match up these reviews of the Pepys' Diary with specific volumes, probably due to the nature of ISBN numbers. However, this review is about Volume 10, the Companion to the 10 vol. set of paperbacks (complete edition) by the University of California Press. IT IS a valuable book indeed, being 1700 entries, alphabetically arranged, on the details about the people and places mentioned in the Diary. It has 626 numbered pages and genealogical tables and maps.

When I started reading the diary, I expected it to be extremely boring and very old fashioned (seeing how it was written in the 1600's) - how wrong I was!!!
Samuel Pepys (pronounced 'peeps') is a human, funny, moody man who has his ups and downs like the rest of us. His narrative during the plague records his concern about neighbors, and his real sorrow when people he knows succumb to it. He also records his experiences during the great fire of London in 1666 and his first mention of it strikes me as entirely human - he says that his maids wake him as they have heard of the fire and as it is not near his doorstep he simply goes back to bed as he's tired. He has arguments with his wife, and has cast a lusty eye upon the kings mistress for years! He also has, what I call 'mini affairs' where he kisses and fondles women quite regularly, (including his own maids) and seems to have no guilt about this whatsoever. Most mornings he 'drinks' his breakfast and at one point is outraged that his new wig is teeming with nits! An historical and very human read. Makes me realise that after 450 years we are all no different at all........

There are on the Amazon site two excellent, informative reviews of the Pepys' diaries. They say far more than my own contribution.
I have read in and out of the Pepys' diary more than once. I did this in part because I have read many times that they are the ' best diaries' ever written. Without contending with that I found that they were not for me the most interesting. This probably shows more about my own shortcomings than it does about the work of Pepys.
Pepys' work is filled with description of the life of the time. It is rich in perception of the great city of London in Restoration times. It is filled with personal anecdote, gossip including that relating to his prodigious sexual appetite and activity. It is a busy, businesslike work. And it tells more about a world outside than a world in.
In the diaries I most love there is the quest of the soul to deeply understand itself and its relation to other people, and God. I find that the flurry of activity in the life of Pepys does not lead to this kind of reflectiveness. And thus for me the 'diary' is not a highly significant work personally.

GREAT BOOK: 1. THE SKETCHES ARE DRAWN BU EMMA THOMPSON'S MOTHER. 2. DELIGHTFUL SCENE WHEREIN JUDI DENCH TELLS OF HER PAST HENRY V CATHERINE WITH EMMA THOMPSON, THE PRESENT V CATHRINE ON THE DAY OF THE FRENCH TO ENGLISH.

First of all I regard Ken as my favorite actor and Emma Thompson his ex is my favorite actress.

Very well written and interesting as he goes through his childhood and growth as an actor. During that time he overcame the strong bias against his Belfast and lower class upbringing.

There were two things that I missed in the story: 1) The story ended just after Henry V filming, which is just the start of his wonderful film career.

2) There was very little about Ken and Emma. Even though they met when filming Fortunes of War, which was during the book there was little discussion of the budding romance. I expected to see flames of passion between those two. Ken as the womanizer he is reported to be and Emma with the passion she has shown in her movies.

Having a degree in English Literature and having viewed many films and adaptations by Mr. Branagh, I was compelled to read about what made this man such a force to be reckoned with in the classically trained theatre field, and at such a young age, as well. He was 28 when he wrote this book!

It's always interesting to find out where people come from and how they got to where they are now--whether they be a businessman, entertainer, teacher, whoever. Here you have a kid from extremely lower working class Belfast who realized he wasn't exactly meant for the business world, and after appearing in a school play (as for most entertainers), realized that was what they wanted to do.

Mr. Branagh takes you on a tour of his childhood, from its very humble beginnings, to his applying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the struggle to reach the level of perfection he wanted both as an artist and as a person, the conviction and belief he had in himself of wanting to play "Hamlet" (which has since become one of his signature roles), and from the development of his own theatre company, Renaissance.

Mr. Branagh's writing style is very wry, witty, and I find his experience of learning to ride a horse extremely humorous. This book will be a great addition to anyone who appreciates literature, theatre, the classics, and the makings of a person following their dreams and ambitions.

Anyone that wants to know more about Ken Branagh and his theatre work will love this book. I am totally in love with Ken Branagh after seeing his numerous Shakespeare films (Much Ado about Nothing, Henry V, etc). He has an absolutely wonderful sense of humor and great wit.

The writing is incredibly; he is entertaining throughout and he is completely honest and genuine. (I found that very endearing) I especially loved how he reacted to certain aspects of theatre, how he interpreted Shakespeare text, and his reactions to blessings and upsets.

It is a real joy to read.

I'm in love with Kenneth Branagh--no! Not that way! I'm in love with the talent and the drive. And the love is mixed with equal parts envy and recrimination. Oh, how I would like to be Branagh, 28 and directing himself in Henry V, or, even before that, just as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, filming a movie of the early life of D.H. Lawrence in Australia. Yes, I would like to be an actor, but for ever much a dream it may be in Britain, even more so in America. Here, there are only two places where one can gain recognition--New York and Los Angeles. Even more so, those are probably the only places one could make a living at it. But it's envy of the man's energy just as much. Sure, it may be the case that becoming an actor is easier in Britain, but then how does one explain Branagh's writing his own one-man shows, or his first play. No, this is truly a man with talent and drive, probably equally strong. And so the recrimination. I am 27, only a year away from the magic age at which this book was written, and what do I have to show for it? I finally have my Bachelor's degree, I've published two stories and written a few more, I've been involved in one magazine of note, and I've lived in several places besides where I grew up. And that's it. Not really a lot. Wasted time? Some of it, and yet, on the other hand, I wouldn't exchange it, either. I just with that I had something more tangible to show for it. Branagh's young to write an autobiography, even a first volume as this undoubtably will turn out to be, and he comments as much. Even for all his accomplishments, he isn't content to rest. There's a moral there, I believe. What Branagh has to show you is that greatness, which I do believe he has already obtained, is not an ephemeral quality, but elusive and rare. It can be had, through hard work. I heard someone recently on NPR--a poet, I think--talk about writing. He said, attempt greatness, because if you fail, well, then, it may simply be good, which isn't bad. But if you only attempt to be good.... I will attempt greatness.

We shall not cease from exploring, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. -T.S. Eliot-

We can now have voice over narration with movies that make DVD's well worth buying and we can enjoy the mover more after seeing what the artist or writer or director was trying to accomplish. I my self need someone to tell me when my show is untied.

You may notice a few drawbacks to the DVD extra rout that this book addresses. First even if the media lasted for ever the DVD will become unreadable with newer technology. Unless you have a portable device about the size of a book a DVD can be clumsy to carry around. People that are book oriented can get more pleasure from this medium.

The book its self is conveniently divided into logical sections as:
Introduction
Synopsis
The screenplay
The cast
The film
The shoot

All the movements and dialog are clearly written. There are plenty of color pictures as visual aids. After enjoying the different view both Shakespeare and the movie, this book makes a great conversation item.

Much Ado About Nothing

This film is Branagh's best ever. Easy to follow with excellent acting. Great casting of both English and American actors.

The book to accompany the movie. There's nothing new here, really, although one can take the screenplay and check it against the play to find out the changes that were made to the text.

Branagh says in the foreword that having the American actors was his idea. Perhaps. I had heard a rumor that he had included them for a wider U.S. distribution. In any case, it's worth noting that the Americans, with the possible exception of Denzel Washington, just can't hold a candle to even the meanest bit parts played by the British. I still think Keaton was way too "Beetlejuice" for Dogberry, although the explanation for his interpretation herein gave me new insight into it. If you're a Branagh admirer as I am, you shouldn't pass this book up.

I just can't say enough good things about this book. The pictures are fabulous--I'd pay the price of the book for them alone! And for those curious about stage production and screenplays, this book is a MUST HAVE! Much Ado is definitely my favorite play by Shakespeare. Kenneth Branagh's movie version is the most fun version of Much Ado I've ever seen, and this book captures Branagh's magic. You will not be disappointed!

Are you a wannabe actor? Do you love theatre, supporter of the Arts that you are? You will love this. Hilarious, wonderful performances.

While working towards his amazing film of "Hamlet," Kenneth Branagh plus several of his close friends and colleagues took a little time off for a lighthearted "take" on actors playing Hamlet. This film knocked my socks off. If you've ever been an actor, it's true to the bone of the experience, but with such a gentle, hilarious, gay grotesquerie that it's probably one of my favorite works of Branagh's, and surely the most unexpected. No one I've ever met doesn't love this little gem about a bunch of out-of-work actors with dreams of really "doing" Hamlet and getting their lives together - putting the Great Dane together with shoestring, gum, and very little else but heart. Highly recommended. The entire cast is stellar.

i read this book right after dracula and well, it's definitely a good read and an edge of your seat thriller. it has stood the test of time in terms of it's theme and lesson.

for the people who hated this book and gave it poor reviews. Really missed out on what may be the greatest novel of all time. For me it's hard to put down. And the themes are deep and everlasting ones that humans will forever struggle with. Life and death, God vs science, good and evil, spiritual themes, and social ones also, all wrapped up in a GREAT story. Oh well, you can't expect everyone to get it and resonate with it.

One thing about this Rieger version: it says it "reproduces for the first time in more than a century the text of the first edition published in 1818". Not true. Donohue produced at least three editions (I have them) around 1895 that are all the 1818 text.
Just an FYI.

Believe the hype! This book is hard to surpass. I virtually never give 5 stars to ANYTHING. This deserves it.

Once you read Shelley's classic you're going to scratch your head and wonder: Is this really the book that gave us the Karloff movie? Not to mention Herman Munster and Frankenberry. For over a century and half people have been cannibalizing this book for ideas, movies, other books, and products of every size, shape and type that our modern concept of Frankenstein holds little to no resemblence to the master work. While occasionally these bastardizations have had enjoyable results, like Young Frankenstein, it's criminal that so few people are unfamiliar with the source. Do yourself a favor and find out where it all came from. It's not nearly as creepy as you may think, but it's infinitely more thought provoking and it certainly doesn't hurt that this version is beautifully published at a very reasonable price.

It is pretty surprising that something come up with almost on a whim to
provide a diversion has come to be such an important text for two
genres, both horror and science fiction.

Victor Frankenstein's obsession with the creation of life ultimately ends in tragedy and death for those around him.

Most editions of Mary Shelley's landmark book available today follow the heavily revised 1831 version. The impulse behind this trend is an honorable one (to present what is seemingly an author's "final revision"),but the 1818 version is preferable for many reasons. Looking back on her creation in later life, Shelley felt obliged to alter the book's focus in significant ways, adding what critic Marilyn Butler accurately describes as "long passages in which her main narrator, [Victor] Frankenstein, expresses religious remorse for making a creature..." The author sought to make the 1831 edition less controversial and thereby more palatable to the tastes of the reading public. The 1818 version is closer to Mary Shelley's original intentions, though it too, unfortunately, was filtered through the sensibilities of her husband, the poet Percy Shelley, who took many of his wife's rather straightforward passages and rendered them into his own more ornate and Ciceronian style. Still, the 1818 version remains more vital, more original, and less constrained by what the author believed would be acceptable to readers in 1830s England.